Serves: Enough for a light lunch or starter for 2
Ingredients
- 1 cooked chicken breast, shredded
- 2 large handfuls of mushrooms (I’ve got shiitaki and oyster), sliced
- 5 shallots, sliced
- 1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 bunch Thai basil
- 6-8 plain fresh rice rolls (called chong fun)
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine
Spicy fish sauce
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon palm sugar (or honey)
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- 2 chillies (less if you prefer milder)
- Juice of 2 limes
- 1 bunch Thai basil
Method
- In a cool pan, add 2 tablespoons of oil and add the garlic, heat slowly until the garlic is golden. Remove from the pan and drain.
- Fry the shallots and mushrooms until soft and add the rice wine and oyster sauce, frying until cooked. Stir in spring onions and chicken at the end to warm through.
- Unroll the fresh rice rolls on a chopping board and line a row of Thai basil along an edge of the roll. Add a thin spoonful of the chicken mix on top of the basil leaves.
- Fold in the sides towards the filling so it doesn’t fall out of the ends and carefully roll the rice roll over the filling until the end of the sheet. Set aside on a plate and continue until all the rolls have been used.
- To make the sauce, put the garlic, palm sugar and chilli in a pestle and mortar and pound until it turns into a rough paste. Put in a bowl and add the fish sauce, lime juice, coriander and spring onion. I like to add 2 ice cubes to the sauce to dilute it a little and to make it cold.
- Steam the rice rolls for 4-5 minutes until it’s translucent and serve topped with the crispy garlic and spicy sauce.
TIPS:
The filling can be changed to anything you like. Try using tofu, carrots and mushrooms work well too.
It is best to use fresh rice rolls as it’s soft and will roll much easier. If you can’t get fresh ones from the wet market or have left it in the fridge overnight, steam them for 3 minutes to soften before unrolling and adding the filling.
